Chandigarh: Punjab Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging his recent arrest by the Punjab Police in a 2015 drugs case. In his petition before the high court, Sukhpal Khaira claimed that in the FIR filed in March 2015, he was illegally arrested and should be released from jail.
The case was registered under the NDPS apart from the Arms Act. Khaira said that he has led a dignified life and has served the people all his life, but he is being “severely harassed” for what he termed as “clearly politically motivated, malicious, inconsistent and repugnant views”. Khaira said that he was “never an accused or a suspect” in the FIR in which the trial concluded in October 2017.
Also read: Cong MLA Sukhpal Khaira sent to 14-day judicial custody
The Congress MLA said that “malicious attempts” were made to recall witnesses to “somehow implicate” him. Khaira has referred to the proceedings of the Supreme Court. He said that in 2017, the Supreme Court issued summons to him as additional accused and stopped the lower court's proceedings against him.
He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2021 on charges of money laundering related to a 2015 drugs case in which he got bail in 2022. Subsequently, in February 2023, the Supreme Court quashed the summons order against him in the drug case. On September 28, the Punjab Police arrested him from his residence in Chandigarh.
Meanwhile, the matter reached Judge Vikas Bahl for hearing, but he recused to hear it and sent the case back to the Chief Justice. Judge Bahl said that as a lawyer he had appeared in a case in which MLA Khaira was the respondent.
